TMNT Half Shell Heroes: The Time of the Great Giving
by Calmoose415
Summary: Things are about to get complicated for the Turtles and their Dino friends as they are forced to overcome the challenges of a trio of bullies, a massive drought spreading throughout the valley, and an old enemy returning.
1. New Conflicts

Chapter 1: New Conflicts

In the bizarre, strange reverse reality of Dimension X, based on one of the many floating metallic asteroids was a massive Kraang base. Deep inside the base were at least five hundred Kraang droids. Their numbers had severely dropped since the Turtles and the Utrom had invaded their base, capturing several Kraang and turning them back into Utrom.

Many Kraang then soon formed a long military-like line as what appeared to be a human girl walked towards it. She had the appearance of the human known as Irma, who had formerly been April O'neil's best friend. However, her body then began to shift and open to reveal a massive mechanical body, and in the center of it was none other than the second-in-command of the Kraang forces.

"You guys are as dumb as a pile of rocks!" Kraang Sub-Prime exclaimed angrily. "How hard is it to find four, stinkin' turtles?!"

"The ones known as the Turtles have proven to be difficult to locate, due to that which is known as the scanners not being very operational." One Kraang replied.

"Also, the defeat at the hands of the ones known as the Turtles and the Utrom has shortened those that are known as resources and numbers." Another Kraang added.

"Oh for the love of-!" Kraang Sub-Prime sputtered, about to lose his temper when another Kraang droid at the central controls got his attention. It was thanks to the Turtles that he had been trapped in the Primary Turtle reality. It was only thanks to his supreme genius that he managed to get back.

"Attention, Kraang Sub-Prime." The droid spoke. "Kraang has located the ones known as the Turtles in a dimension that is inhabited by those that are known as dinosaurs, specifically in a valley the locals seem to call 'The Great Valley'."

To show emphasis, a small pink triangular portal opened in front of Sub-Prime, giving an areal view of the Great Valley.

"Excellent." Kraang Sub-Prime grinned maliciously. "How long until we're ready?"

"That which is known as the invasion force will be in that which is known as the invasion of the Great Valley will be ready within the time frame of twenty-four hours." A Kraang droid replied.

"Perfect." Sub-Prime's grin grew even wider. "Not only will we finally destroy those good-for-nothing turtles, but we also get to conquer another dimension!"

Sub-Prime threw back his head as his laughter echoed through the Kraang base.

* * *

It was a bright afternoon in the Great Valley as Littlefoot and his friends played a little game where they bounced a small rock around like a ball. It had at least two weeks since they let Chomper go out with his parents into the Mysterious Beyond. And while they did miss him greatly, they held on to hope that they would one day see them again.

"Me got it! Me got it!" Petrie called as Littlefoot hit the rock into the air. Unfortunately for him, the rock was far to big as it knocked him out of the air, sending him crashing to the ground. "Me miss it." He groaned.

"Go, Spike!" Ducky cried from atop Spike's head. The young spike-tail nodded with a grunt as he pounced on top of the rock.

"Did you get it, Spike?" Ducky asked excitedly as she got down from Spike's head. Spike simply lifted his body up, revealing the rock to be buried into the earth. "Yup, yup, yup! You got it!"

"Don't worry, I've got another one!" Cera exclaimed, getting another rock from a nearby pile. She then tossed it into the air and hit it over to Littlefoot. The young long-neck grinned playfully as he chased after the rock as it rolled down the hill. Littlefoot was about to reach the ball when a foot stomped down on it before he could get it.

Littlefoot frowned as he looked up to see three older dinosaurs looking down at the Gang with smug grins.

"Hi, Hyp!" Littlefoot said cheerfully as the others joined him. "Can we have our rock back?"

Hyp's smug grin remained on his face as the Hypsilophodont picked up the rock in his hand. "Your rock? Who said it was your rock?" Hyp mockingly replied.

"Yeah, who said it was your rock, huh? Who said? Who said?" Nod the Nodosaurus repeated.

Hyp then looked to the third member of his little gang, waiting for him to say something as well. It took a few moments for Mutt the Muttaburrasaurus to finally register the silent message.

"Oh," Mutt said. "uh... yeah!"

"Well, gee, no one." Littlefoot replied. "We were just playing with it."

"Just give us back out rock, Hyp!" Cera snapped, stepping forward.

"But I didn't hear you say 'please'."

"That's because I didn't!" Cera growled angrily.

Hyp responded to the action with a growl of his own as the two glared daggers at each other. Meanwhile, Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike were now starting to become a bit nervous about the situation. The last time they saw Cera get into a physical with anyone was with Littlefoot and Raphael on their journey to the Great Valley. Littlefoot himself had seen first hand how vicious she could be in a fight. But Hyp, like Raph, was much bigger and older than she was, at least Littlefoot was the same age and roughly the same size as he was.

"What's going on here?"

The Gang turned around and their faces lit up.

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo approached the group. Leo, Raph, and Mikey had all been sparring by the lake while Donnie was fixing the Shell-Former when they heard their young friends arguing with someone. And needless to say, they were not happy to see Hyp and his little gang again.

"What are you doing here, Hyp?" Mikey questioned as the Turtles all glared.

"Oh, not you guys again." Hyp groaned.

"Nice to see you remember us." Donnie replied, his voice thick with sarcasm. "What have we told you about picking on our friends?"

"You don't control us, shell-back." Nod said bluntly.

"No, we don't." Leo said, giving Hyp and his gang a cold stare. "But our friends are under our protection. You mess with them, you answer to us. Now give them back their rock."

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?" Hyp mocked.

Raph growled lowly, already losing his patience with the Hypsilophodont. "Listen, jerk-face," He threatened, jabbing Hyp in the chest with his finger. "Unless you want a nice pummeling, you'll give our friends their rock back!"

Sensing tensions were growing between the Turtles and Hyp's gang, Littlefoot decided to interfere. "Hey, maybe we can all play together!"

Hyp almost seemed to consider this for a moment. "What do you think, guys?" He asked his two friends rhetorically. "Want to play with these babies?"

The Gang sharply looked up when they heard the insult.

"Babies?!" Cera shrieked. "Who's he calling babies?!"

"Us." Ducky timidly replied.

"We're not babies!" Mikey retorted. "We may be kids, but we're not babies! Heck, me and my bros are way older than you guys!"

"Yeah, but you still like to hang out with these runts." Hyp said. "Why don't you guys hand out with the cool kids for once?"

"Define 'cool'." Donnie stated dryly. "And no thanks."

"Well, that's your loss." Mutt mocked.

The Turtles all simply glared at the Muttaburrasaurus.

However, before they could continue arguing, there was a low rumbling sound as the ground began to shake violently.

"Whoa!" Hyp cried as the group looked around while also trying to keep their balance. "What's that?!"

"I-it's an earthshake!" Cera cried.

However, when Donnie looked up to the sky, he saw several rocks that were on fire come shooting down from the sky like fiery rain. "No, meteor shower!"

Everyone looked to the heavens and gasped as they too saw the asteroids come down. "Take cover!" Leo shouted.

Completely forgetting about their feud, the two gangs immediately set off running in opposite directions. While Hyp and his gang sprinted off in a panic, the Gang each split up as they tried to desperately to find cover from the falling comets.

The Turtles and Littlefoot immediately dashed back to Grandma and Grandpa Longneck as well as the Shell-Former, narrowly avoiding rock-slides and falling trees. Soon they came to the lake, where they Littlefoot's Grandparents and the Shell-Former waiting for them. Acting quickly, the Turtles got into the Shell-Former and shut the doors while Littlefoot snuggled closely to his grandparents as they got down to avoid the meteors.

Eventually though, the shaking eventually stopped. Feeling that it was over, the Turtles all breathed a sigh of relief before they stepped out of the Shell-Former.

"Is everyone okay?" Raph asked as everyone gathered together.

"We're alright, Raphael." Grandma Longneck said reassuringly. "It seems the danger has passed."

"What was that?" Littlefoot questioned. "An earthshake?"

"No." Donnie told them. "That was a meteor shower." Littlefoot and his grandparents turned to the purple clad turtle, clearly confused. "Meteor showers are these rocks that come down from space, which is beyond the sky, into our atmosphere and striking the Earth."

Though a bit confused, Littlefoot and his grandparents seemed to somewhat understand the concept.

"Whoa, dudes!" Mikey exclaimed, pointing to the sky. "Check out the pretty colors!"

Looking up to the sky, the group saw a large aurora streaking across the sky, the heavens like waves of golden light. The group couldn't help but look in wonder as the waves stood out among the twilight lit sky, seeming to sparkle with streams of ruby red lights.

"It's beautiful!" Littlefoot said in amazement.

"Yes, Littlefoot," Grandpa Longneck sighed as he gazed up at the sky, "Beautiful and mysterious. As is so much in our world."

Leo looked out to the horizon and noticed the sun was setting, turning the sky a warm orange hue. "Sun's going down." The blue clad turtle stated. "Let's get some rest. We'll see what the damage is tomorrow."

The group quickly agreed as they settled down near the lake, too tired to carry on the conversation. As the sun disappeared behind the Great Wall and the sky began to grow dark, the elder long-necks plodded over to their nesting place. Littlefoot wandered over to his nest and plopped down next to his grandparents, curling into a small ball as he did.

The Turtles walked back into the Shell-Former, closing the ramp door behind them as they settled down in their makeshift bunk-beds. It was almost hard to believe how much happened in just a few minutes. _Heh, _kind of ironic. They found a place where they could still settle down peacefully for a while, and yet trouble still had a strange way of finding them.

With a few tired yawns, the Turtles closed their eyes and let themselves drift to sleep.

**Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry this took so long. I had a bit of a hard time writing this, but I hope you like this!**


	2. The Thundering Falls

Chapter 2: The Thundering Falls

The next morning was a rather pleasant one. The Bright Circle rose over the giant rock walls of the Great Valley. Thin clouds whipped across the pale blue sky as a gentle breeze blew.

Meanwhile, inside the Shell-Former the Turtles had gotten up rather early, jumping down from their beds as Michelangelo cooked breakfast. Raphael sat at one of the tables, eating a bit of toast while Leonardo was watching some Space Heroes on the tv screen (and thoroughly enjoying himself at that).

* * *

_Captain Ryan stood tall and strong at the edge of the cliff overlooking the desolate landscape of Xion IV._

_"Captain Ryan," Mr. Crenshaw exclaimed, his voice panicked and desperate, "The rebellion is growing! We have to get off this planet!"_

_"No." _

_"But Captain-" Crenshaw was interrupted as Captain Ryan slapped him across the face._

_"I said no!" Captain Ryan stated stubbornly. "We may have started this rebellion on accident, but by the Rings of Nebulan, we're going to finish it on purpose!"_

* * *

Leonardo sat there in front of the tv, his eyes glued to the screen with a nerdy smile on his face. No matter how many times he watched this show, he always still enjoyed.

The blue clad turtle watched in growing excitement as the best part was about to come! He just couldn't wait!

Leo watched intensely as Captain Ryan raised his blaster into the air...

... only for a shuriken to suddenly fly by him and hit the power button to the tv, causing the screen to go black.

"Wha-hey!" Leo exclaimed, turning around and seeing Raph right behind him. "What are you doing?!"

Raph grinned smugly. "Aw, sorry," He apologized sarcastically, "but it's unhealthy for your brain to watch too much Space Heroes."

Leo could only pout at him before he stood up and walked over to the table, grumbling something under his breath.

"Head's up, dudes!" Mikey chirped from the stove. "Dr. Cookienstein is ready with breakfast!"

* * *

Donatello, meanwhile, was working on repairs for the Shell-Former, taking several tools and going outside to inspect and repair the hull. That fight between the Shell-Former and Chomper's parents had really taken a toll on it as Donnie had spent many hours cooling down and repairing the ship's systems.

Littlefoot groggily opened his eyes, letting out a yawn and stretching his limbs. He couldn't help but feel a bit curious to all the sounds Donnie was making as the young long-neck approached the purple clad turtle.

Donnie had put on an old welding helmet as he used a small blow-torch to seal up one of the plates on the hull. As he got out from under the Shell-Former, he quickly noticed Littlefoot approaching him.

"Morning, Littlefoot." Donnie greeted, removing his welding helmet to give his usual gap-toothed grin before putting the helmet back on and going back to working on repairs.

"Hey, Donnie." Littlefoot replied. "What are you up to?"

"Just working on some repairs for the Shell-Former." Donnie stated, taking out a wrench and screwing in the plate on the hull. "That little scuffle with Chomper's parents really put some wear and tear on it." He then stood up after he managed to get the plate in place. "But, given enough time, it should be back to normal."

Littlefoot seemed to understand most of that. "So what are the guys doing?"

"There just having some breakfast." Donnie replied nonchalantly. "Mikey's cooking."

"So what's he making?"

"Scrambled eggs."

Littlefoot blinked in shock. "... Y-you guys eat eggs?" He asked in mild horror.

"Only unfertilized ones." Donnie stated. He noticed Littlefoot looked confused on that. "It means that they can't hatch." He clarified.

"Oh." Littlefoot murmured in understanding, though still quite disturbed. "You sure your okay with Mikey cooking?"

"I wouldn't worry about it." Donnie replied. "Say what you will about Mikey, but he sure knows how to scramble an egg."

Just then, the door to the Shell-Former slid open as Leo, Raph, and Mikey walked out onto the soft grass, each carrying a small plate of scrambled eggs. They then sat down on the grass and began eating their scrambled eggs.

"Here, D." Mikey said, handing Donnie an extra plate. "Dig in!"

The purple clad turtle grabbed the plate and sat down with his brothers as they immediately began eating their scrambled eggs. Littlefoot said nothing as he sat down on the grass.

Just then, the ground shook as Littlefoot's grandparents approached. "Hello, boys." Grandpa Longneck greeted, lowering his head to their level. "We were just about to head to the Thundering Falls. Would you care to join?"

Donnie gulped down a final piece of scrambled egg. "Well, I was gonna head down there to get some creek water, but I guess we could all come along."

* * *

After putting their dirty dishes in the sink, the Turtles headed down to the Thundering Falls with Littlefoot and his Grandparents. There way down was a rather quiet one as the sun's rays lit up the massive landscape, the gentle breeze being very cool and refreshing. From what the Turtles had learned during their stay in the Great Valley, the Thundering Falls was the Valley's main water supply, as well as being the largest one in the Valley.

The small herd soon reached the Thundering Falls where they found many other dinosaurs swimming around the cool water and grazing on the vegetation that grew below the surface of the water.

Littlefoot's grandparents grazed on the greens in the water while Littlefoot and Mikey swam around in the water, Donnie collected some water in a large bucket, Leo sat down in the grass, and Raph simply did some fishing.

As soon as Littlefoot finished his breakfast, he began playfully splashing in the water with Mikey, laughing happily. Mikey splashed Littlefoot in the face with water, causing the young long-neck to laugh as he splashed some water with his tail.

While he splashed in the water, Littlefoot noticed Leo sitting down on his knees at the shore, his eyes closed in what seemed like relaxed concentration. Curious, the young long-neck swam up to the blue clad turtle.

"What are you doing, Leo?" Littlefoot asked, getting out of the water.

"Meditation." Leo replied, not opening his eyes.

The young long-neck tilted his head slightly. "Medi-tation?"

Leo opened his eyes. "A little thing Master Splinter taught me." He explained. "It's a simple technique that can help calm and ease the mind."

"... Can I try?"

The blue clad turtle cracked an eye open in minor surprise. "Sure, if you want to." He shrugged slightly with a small smile.

Littlefoot smiled happily as he walked up to Leo and sat down next to him. "So how do I do it?"

"First, close your eyes." Leo instructed. Littlefoot nodded and did as he was told. "Now, clear your mind."

"Clear my mind?" Littlefoot asked, cracking an eye open in confusion.

"Yes." Leo confirmed. "Don't think about anything. Don't think about me, don't think about our friends, don't think about your grandparents, or anyone or anything."

Littlefoot sighed as he closed his eyes and attempted to meditate, trying hard not to think about anything.

"Take deep, slow breaths. Breath in and out." Leo gently instructed. "There are no thoughts, no fears, no sounds, just an empty void. Focus on that emptiness as you focus your inner energy."

"Um, what does that mean?" The young long-neck asked, still puzzled.

"It means you must ignore all distractions and focus on the task at hand." Leo clarified.

Littlefoot nodded, calming himself as he slowed his breathing. At first, he didn't feel anything. He could still hear the loud sounds of water crashing against water, laughter along with splashing, as well as many other things. But then, a strange feeling washed over him, and all the sounds began to slowly fade away. Littlefoot didn't know whether to be confused or frightened as he felt this new feeling fill him to the brim. However, it wasn't a feeling of pain but rather, peacefulness. He felt... relaxed.

However, his little moment of peace was suddenly interrupted when he heard several gasps of horror, causing him and Leo to open their eyes.

To their surprise, they saw that the Thundering Falls was rapidly drying up! Strands of water trickled down the rock before it began to gradually dry up further until there was nothing left but wet stones.

"Where did the water go?" A female spike-tail questioned in surprise.

"It just stopped flowing!" A male swimmer exclaimed.

"How can that be?" A male three-horn asked. "What will we do without water?"

Littlefoot turned to his grandparents, who seemed just as shocked as everyone else. "Grandpa, why did the Thundering Falls stop?" He asked, walking up to them.

Grandpa Longneck remained silent for a moment. "I don't know, Littlefoot." He replied, trying to mask his concern. "I don't know."

"Littlefoot, go and play." Grandma Longneck gently urged. "Grandpa and I must talk with the other grown-ups."

"Sure, Grandma."

Littlefoot quickly got out of the water and raced over to the Turtles.

"Guys," He said, "we gotta find the others!"

"Sounds like a plan." Donnie agreed.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey all nodded in agreement before they sprinted away in search of their friends.

* * *

After a few minutes of searching, Littlefoot and the Turtles eventually spotted Ducky, Petrie, and Spike at the edge of a not-so-dense forest. The three dinosaur children were standing by a hollowed out tree stump, gazing at it with curiosity before Ducky jumped off of Spike's back and into one of the empty branches.

"Hey, guys!" Littlefoot called out. "Guess what happened to the Thundering Falls!"

"Shh!" Ducky whispered as she poked her head out of the hollowed-out branch. "We are trying to find Cera. She has hided from us."

"But-" Mikey was about to protest when Petrie flew up and landed on the stump.

"Ugh," he groaned, "me no find Cera anywhere."

"Cera is a very good hider, she is." Ducky commented.

Raph looked off to the side and noticed a pile of large, palm tree-like leafs on the ground. He then noticed the leafs rustle slightly before a pair of eyes popped out. Needing no further clues, the red clad turtle smirked as he jumped right into the pile of leafs.

The others quickly turned as they heard the sounds of screaming, laughing, and leafs rustling before Raph came tumbling out with Cera, startling most of the group while Petrie yelped and latched onto Donnie's face.

"Found her." Raph said before driving his knuckles into her frill.

Cera laughed a bit as Raph gave her a rough noogie. "No fair!" She said. "How'd you find me?"

Raph chuckled a bit as he released Cera from his grip. "I'm a ninja, remember?" He said. "Stealth is kinda my thing."

"Petrie," Donnie said with a squished nose as the little flyer tightened his grip on his skin, "you're hurting my face!"

"Oh!" Petrie cried, quickly letting go of him. "Sorry, me no know my own strength." He then jumped off of the purple clad turtle's face before swooping down and landing on Spike's back.

"So now who's going to hide?" Cera asked before turning to a certain young long-neck. "Littlefoot."

"Okay," Littlefoot replied, "but first we gotta tell you something."

"Well hurry it up." Cera said. "We wanna play."

"Seriously, guys, this is important." Leo stated, stepping forward. "It's about the Thundering Falls."

"What about them?" Ducky asked.

"Well, something's happened to it and now it's not giving any water." Littlefoot said before he turned around. "Come and see."

"Yeah, why don't you hatchlings go run and see!" A rather unpleasant voice mocked from behind them.

"Yeah, run and see, run and see!" Another voice taunted, sounding just as obnoxious.

The Gang turned around and saw Hyp, Nod, and Mutt walking up to them. Hyp was riding on Nod's back, riding him like a steed while Mutt held a palm tree branch over his 'leader's' head for shade.

After Nod had spoken, Hyp glared at Mutt, waiting for him to say something.

Mutt blinked before he finally spoke up. "Oh, uh, yeah!"

"Are you guys following us now?" Mikey questioned, slightly angered.

"What if we are?" Hyp mocked again. "What are you guys going to do about it?"

"Oh, believe us, we could do a lot to you." Raph stated, stepping forward. "How much did you overhear us?"

"Not much. Just about how the Thundering Falls stopped." Hyp said, jumping off of Nod's back. "You know, one thing I can't figure out is why you guys want to hang out with these hatchlings." He said, addressing the Turtles directly. "You guys are the oldest."

"What's your point?" Leo questioned.

"You guys are just protectors for them." Hyp replied. "They're too small to take care of themselves so they depend on you for protection. Just like with those sharp-teeth that came through a couple weeks ago."

"Tyrannosaurus Rexes, to be precise." Donnie stated 'as-a-matter-of-factly'.

"Whatever," Hyp dismissed, "I just know that you had to protect them. As a matter of fact, I bet they're using you."

"That's not true at all!" Littlefoot protested.

"Darn right it isn't." Raph stated. "Also, we don't care what you say, Hyp. I think we'd all rather eat one Mikey's pizzas than hang out with a punk like you."

"Hey! My garlic-fudge pizza wasn't that bad!" Mikey cried. Raph simply smacked Mikey upside the head.

"Mikey, we had food-poisoning for nearly a week because we ate that pizza." Donnie dryly stated, shivering slightly.

"Besides," Cera spoke up, marching forward, "you talk about us being small, but when we grow up, you won't be very big at all. You're kind never gets big. When WE grow up, we'll be much bigger!"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Ducky nodded. "Much, much, much, MUCH bigger!"

Hyp frowned deeply. "Oh yeah?" He snarled. "Well I'm gonna see to it that you never grow up!"

He was about to take a step forward when Leo's katana was suddenly at his throat, startling him as the blue clad turtle gave a cold glare. "Is that a threat, Hyp?" Leo asked, his voice low. Then with one flick of his blade, he cut Hyp's cheek, causing the Hypsilophodon to yelp in pain.

Hyp then glared at Leo as he clutched his cheek. "What do you think?!" He growled.

"If it is," Leo continued, his stare unwavering, "then you're gonna be receiving more than just a scratch." Then with a flick of his wrist, Leo sheathed his katana onto his back before turning away. "Come on, guys." He said to his brothers and friends. "Let's go."

"And you creeps better not be following us!" Mikey called as they walked away.

Hyp glared at the group before he and his little gang headed back into the forest.

"Thank you for standing up to Hyp." Petrie said to the Turtles as the group strolled down the hill and towards the river.

"Eh, we've stood up to worse." Raph shrugged. "Besides, growing isn't the same as getting bigger and stronger."

"'Size matters not'." Mikey quoted. "'Look at me. Judge me by my size do you?'" Raph simply smacked him upside the head.

Donnie then began chuckling a bit.

"What is so funny?" Ducky asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking." The purple clad turtle replied. "When Cera said you guys were gonna be much bigger than Hyp and his other friends, you're all also going to be bigger than us, too. We're actually nearly fully grown."

"Really?" Cera said, a bit surprised.

"Yeah." Leo replied. "And someday, we'll be looking up to you guys, quite literally."

The group couldn't help but chuckle and laugh at the comment.

"Still," Littlefoot said. "You guys don't have a problem with being small?"

"Not really." Mikey said nonchalantly. "Although I kinda do." He then muttered, only for Raph to smack him upside the head.

"The point is, you may be small, but each of you are strong in your own way." Raph clarified.

"You got that right." Cera smirked. "We're all far from weak. And we'll be even stronger when we're grown up."

The whole group nodded in agreement as they headed towards the Thundering Falls.

**Whoo, finally I finished this chapter. I'm so sorry I took this long, I had a bunch of other things I had to do, so I hope you liked this chapter. Also, I'm gonna be gone on a ****road trip for most of the week, but I'll get back to you as soon as I get back. See ya!**


	3. A Bad Influence

**Hey, guys. Calmoose here. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but I've really busy with school lately and my dog, Amy, died a few days ago, so me and my family are still coping. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 3: A Bad Influence

Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo stood side-by-side and glanced around the group of dinosaurs as they gathered around the dried up waterfall, almost like gathering a meeting. Ever since they had arrived back at the Thundering Falls, the water-level in the river had dropped significantly. In fact, it was the entire reason the adults were meeting in the first place.

Since the water had stopped flowing, the Valley had become much drier, with much of the trees and foliage quickly drying up and dying.

Grandpa Longneck walked to the center of the group as they formed a small circle around the elderly long-neck who they had appointed as their leader.

"As you can all see," The older apatosaurus spoke up, gazing at the residence of the Great Valley, "our Valley is quickly drying up."

"Yes." A female stegosaurus agreed. "We see it and feel it as well. There is less and less water to drink."

"Not to mention that the Valley's vegetation is becoming more and more scarce." Donnie pointed out, speaking loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"I know." Grandpa Longneck solemnly nodded in understanding before turning back to small pond. "That is why our herds must work together to save the little water we have left. From now on, we must drink only what we need to survive and nothing more."

"Well, you won't have to worry about me and my brothers." Leo stated. "We've got plenty of our own water to drink back at our home. But if any of you need any, we'd be willing to share."

"Thank you, Leonardo." The elderly long-neck replied. "Hopefully soon the Thundering Falls will bring us water again. But if not..." He paused for a moment before sighing sadly. "We may have to leave the Great Valley."

The moment those words left Grandpa Longneck's mouth, every dinosaur in the group gasped before they immediately began protesting against it.

"Leave the Great Valley?!"

"Never!"

"It's our home!"

"Then until the water returns," The elderly apatosaurus calmly said, addressing the entire group, "we mustn't use the remaining water we have left unwisely."

"Huh!" Topps snorted. "Three-horns never waste water, but your herds do!"

"Our herds?" A male ankylosaurus questioned, sounding rather offended as he marched over to the triceratops. "What makes you think our herds would do such a thing?"

"You drink greedily with no concern for others." Topps accused in a rather blunt tone.

Shocked and angered by the old triceratops' accusations, the other dinosaurs immediately began arguing among themselves. In all of this, the Turtles felt rather at a loss and were also quite angered by Topps' accusations as well.

"Well, I've seen three-horns waste!" The male club-tail shot back at Topps.

"What?!" Topps questioned, shocked and angered by the accusation.

"You take long baths even when your the least bit dirty!" The ankylosaurus then turned to a random Iguanodon. "And I've seen your kind waste too! Splashing water needlessly, for shame!"

From there, the whole thing spiraled into chaos as everyone began arguing and angrily shouting at each other.

"HEY!" Raph shouted as loud as he could, waving his arms a little. "ARGUING ISN'T GONNA SOLVE ANYTHING!"

But no one seemed to hear the red clad turtle as everyone just kept arguing on and on.

Leo gave a heavy sigh. "C'mon, let's get out of here and find the kids."

Raph, Donnie, and Mikey nodded before the Turtles quietly slipped out of the still arguing herd and then running off to find their friends.

* * *

Down by a small pond, the dino kids were chasing and splashing each other like crazy, the cool water splashing around them. They were all soaking wet, but they were happy. It had been quite a while since they could just enjoy spending time together ever since before that quicksand incident not too long ago.

"Hey!" Cera spoke up, jumping up onto a small rock. "Let's play bullies. I'll be Hyp!" She then jumped down in front of Littlefoot, splashing him a bit. "I'm gonna get ya!" She exclaimed, doing a rather hilariously poor impression of Hyp.

"Not if I get you first!" Littlefoot playfully retorted, also doing a poor Hyp impression as he splashed Cera back.

The young three-horn laughed as she rushed past Littlefoot, kicking up some water in his face. Littlefoot laughed as well as he chased after her, kicking up a lot of water as he ran.

"Me wanna play bullies too!" Petrie said, sitting up from a small rock in the middle of the pond. He landed on a rock beside Spike, who was happily lapping up the cool water.

"Hey, hatchling!" Petrie snapped, trying to sound nasty. "You no eat MY green food!"

Just then, the Turtles came strolling over to the pond just in time to see Spike gather a mouth-full of water and spray it in Petrie's face, causing the small flyer to flail his wings as he stubbled back a little.

It took a lot for Leo, Donnie, and Raph not to laugh as Petrie regained his balance, spitting out some of the water that had gotten into his mouth. Mikey, however, was not so considerate as he burst out laughing.

"Oh ho, you should totally do that next time we run into Hyp, Spike!" The orange clad turtle chortled as he got into the pond with Spike.

The small stegosaurs chuckled at Mikey's comment, smiling slightly with pride.

"Hey, guys." Littlefoot greeted, walking up to the Turtles. "How's everything going?"

Leo gave a heavy sigh as he sat down on a rock near the shore of the pond. "Not so great."

Before Littlefoot could ask, their attention was brought back to Petrie as the little flyer brushed the water off his wings. "Hmph," He grunted, "me go play bullies somewhere else." However, when he turned to walk away, Petrie fell off the rock and into the water with a 'SPLASH'. He immediately surfaced again, scrambling back onto the rock while Ducky emerged from the surface behind the small flyer.

"Petrie, you are a flyer, not a swimmer." She pointed out, a giggle in her voice.

Petrie, on the other hand, sighed miserably. "Me no bully either." He said, frustrated.

"But I am!"

The group froze for a brief moment before turning sharply to see Hyp and his gang standing on a small rock above them. The Turtles and the kids all groaned in annoyance and misery at the sight of the bullies.

"Oh, not you creeps again." Raph grumbled in annoyance.

"Thought you hatchlings could play in our swimming hole, huh?" Hyp mocked.

Mikey frowned as he quickly jumped up and stepped over to the rock, looking directly up to Hyp and his gang. "Hey, how come you always pick on us, dude? What's your deal with us?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Oh, so you guys think you're so special, don't ya?" Hyp sneered down at the orange clad turtle. "Oh yeah, you guys defeated Sharptooth, the most dangerous of all sharp-teeth. Big deal!"

"Wait, Sharptooth?" Littlefoot questioned before a scowl formed on his face. "That's what this is all about?! That's why you bully us?!"

"Why else?" Hyp replied snootily. "You guys are a bunch of hatchlings and freaks who suddenly became famous here because you braved the wilderness on your own and happened to defeat the 'Walking Terror'! And you stand up to two more sharp-teeth! Pretty much everyone in the Valley knows about you guys even if you aren't showoffs!"

"Yeah, well, deal with it, kid!" Raph barked, crossing his arms. "It's not all fun and glory, ya know! Especially with predators after us."

"Heh," Hyp snickered as he smirked, "with someone like you walking around the Valley, who needs 'predators'?"

Raph's eyes widened slightly before they narrowed in anger. "That's it!" He shouted as he was about to head over there and give the bully a good beating, only for Leo and Donnie to quickly grab his arms and hold him back. "I, for one, am not gonna take this from some smug, self-righteous slob with his own little posse!"

"I'm with ya, Raph!" Cera exclaimed, agreeing with him as she too was fed up with Hyp and his gang. "Just who do you guys think you are anyway?!" She questioned as she stood up and walked over to the rock. However, Mikey quickly grabbed and held her back as well.

"Cera, Raph, calm down!" Littlefoot quickly said, nervous about his two friends' growing ire.

"Oh, so ya want piece of me, huh?" Hyp said almost challengingly.

"When we're done with you, a piece is all that's gonna be left of you!" Raph stated as he Cera glared up at the trio of bullies while Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Littlefoot were trying desperately to hold them back.

"Should we go down there, Hyp?" Nod asked, turning to his leader.

"Be my guest, Nod." Hyp nodded. Suddenly, the Hypsilophodont pushed the Nodosaurus, making him lose his footing. The Gang below gasped as the giant armored dinosaur came tumbling down towards them like a boulder.

"RUN!" Littlefoot shouted.

The others already quickly made a dash to the shore.

But unfortunately for Donnie had only a second to react. So he made a desperate attempt to dive out of the way from Nod, who landed in the water with big splash. Water was sent flying out of the pond and splashed Topps in the face, who was approaching out of the brush towards the pond with the rest of the adults. Seeing the old triceratops get splashed caused the grown-ups to laugh.

Leo and Raph quickly rushed over to help their brother up while Nod quickly took his time to recover and get away.

"You okay, D?" Leo asked in concern as he and Raph helped him to his feet.

"Ugh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Donnie replied, coughing up some water. "It's just my pride that's hurt. Nothing else." He then sneezed. "And I think I've got a few liters of water up my nose."

Once Nod joined back with them, Hyp and Mutt noticed the approaching grown-ups and quickly made their move to flee. "See ya!" Mutt waved.

"Wouldn't wanna be ya!" Hyp mocked before he and his gang fled deep into the underbrush.

While Donnie quickly rinsed our his mask tails, the group heard the sounds of laughter. Their stomachs immediately dropped when they saw the adults laughing at the humiliated Topps.

"It's not funny!" Topps snapped towards the adults. "Now someone splashed me and wasted precious water!"

After drying up, the three turtles began to walk out of the pool of water toward they're friends. Donnie shivered slightly and rubbed his arms as a slight breeze came by, licking at the water that still clung to his body.

"Are you okay, Donnie?" Ducky asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Donnie said, a slight grumble in his voice before looking back up at the grown-ups. "But I think we're in trouble."

There was no other word to better define their situation as the elderly dinosaurs looked down at them with disappointment, particularly Topps.

"Those shell-backs are guilty of wasting water!" Topps accused, much to the Turtles' shock and anger.

Grandpa Longneck turned to Topps, surprised by his accusation before shifting his gaze to the Turtles. "Boys, what happened?" He asked, trying to sound more gentle.

Before any of the Turtles could answer, Littlefoot quickly stepped forward. "It was only accident, Grandpa! Honest!" He defended.

Grandpa Longneck gave a small nod of understanding. "I'm sure it was, Littlefoot." He then turned to the other adults. "Our children don't understand the water problem." He calmly said. "The Great Valley has always given them everything they need."

"What are they talking about?" Cera asked among the group as they huddled a little. "What water problem? Isn't the Thundering Falls coming back?"

"I don't know." Littlefoot shrugged.

"I don't think so." Leo stated grimly.

"Well it should!" Cera retorted, stamping the ground with her fore-paw. "Why shouldn't it?"

"Maybe it is tired and needs rest." Ducky suggested.

"Well then lets wake it up!" Mikey said, earning a smack to the back of the head by Raph.

"Waterfalls don't get tired." Raph stated. "They're not even alive!"

"It's must be blocked by something if it's not flowing." Donnie spoke up.

The group then turned back to the grown-ups as Grandpa Longneck spoke up. "We need to teach the children how to use the remaining water wisely."

"Speak for yourself, long-neck!" Topps replied harshly. "My Cera would never waste! Those shell-backs and those other kids are a bad influence!"

Donnie and Mikey gasped while Leo and Raph glared at Topps while the kids looked confused.

"That's not true!" Grandpa Longneck rebuked.

"C'mon, long-neck!" Topps snapped. "Every time those four boys are around, our children always get into trouble! They bring it with them wherever they go!"

The Turtles looked down a bit as they felt angry by accusation but also a bit guilty since Topp's statement wasn't entirely false.

"What does... 'in-flu-ence' mean?" Ducky asked.

"Me no know." Petrie shrugged.

"It means that we're not being friends to Cera." Donnie explained.

The kids gasped in shock. "But that's not true!" Littlefoot cried.

"Come, Cera." Topps ordered to his daughter. "You are not to play with them anymore."

With that said, the old triceratops turned to walk away. Cera gazed at her friends, mouth agape in shock.

"But Daddy-" She started to protest.

"My friend," Grandpa Longneck interjected, "I think your acting rashly. Her friends are not to blame."

Hmph!" Topps huffed before turning his attention to his daughter. "I said come, Cera!"

"No!" Cera stubbornly shouted, rushing behind Raph.

"Cera," The old triceratops said sternly, "I'm your father and I know what's best for you!"

The red clad turtle knelt down in front of Cera, who was shivering almost fearfully.

"Cera... you should go with him. You'll be fine." Raph reluctantly said, giving Cera a small hug. As much as he disliked Topps, he wasn't about to let him start attacking him over his daughter disobeying him.

The young three-horn sorrowfully walked away from Raph, whimpering slightly. When she approached her dad, the two of them walked away. Raph stood up perfectly straight and frowned a slight anger, not taking his eyes off of Cera and her father even as they disappeared over the hill.

Up in the sky above them, Petrie's mom circled around the group.

"Petrie! It's time to go home!"

"Okay, coming, Mama." Petrie sighed before turning to his friends, saying a quick goodbye before flying after his mother.

"Come, Ducky!" Ducky's mother called. "You too, Spike!"

The little swimmer and spike-tail looked back at her remaining friends for a moment.

"Don't worry my friends." She smiled kindly. "I do not think we are a bad influence."

The two then ran over to their parents and headed over the hill back to their nest. Now Leo, Donnie, Raph, Mikey, and Littlefoot were all alone with Grandpa Longneck.

"You guys go on." Leo told the long-necks before gesturing to his brothers. "We theres something we need to discuss."

"Very well," Grandpa Longneck nodded, "Come along, Littlefoot."

As the two apatosaurus' walked away back to their nest, Littlefoot glanced over his shoulder at his turtle friends. "I don't understand, Grandpa." He said. "Why does Cera's dad think we're bad?"

"Oh, he's just confused, Littlefoot." Grandpa Longneck shook his head calmly. "Sometimes fear makes grown-ups do strange things. Things that would often be considered rash and unwise."

* * *

"Okay so, what now?" Raph questioned as the four ninja turtles gathered together. "The waterfall's out and now no one here has any source of water."

"Maybe it's thirsty? We could get it some more water." Mikey suggested, resulting in deadpanned glances from his older brothers. "What?"

"Waterfalls don't get thirsty, Mikey." Donnie told him. He then placed his hand on his chin in thought. "But still, I don't think it's hot enough to dry up the waterfall."

"You think it might have had something to do with the meteor shower yesterday?" Leo asked.

"Doubtful, but possible." Donnie replied. "Though I doubt a giant asteroid would just suddenly block off the path to a waterfall."

"Yeah, that sounds way too convenient." Raph stated.

"Alright, here's the plan: we wait for a few days for the water to come back, and if it doesn't, we'll go investigate." Leo instructed. "In the meantime, we're all gonna have to conserve what water we have."

The other three turtles nodded. With that said, the Turtles headed back to the Shell-Former, ready to get some much needed food and rest as the sun began to set over the horizon.

* * *

Walking home was miserable for Cera. If she still had the mindset she had when she first met her friends, then she probably wouldn't feel so bad about walking away from them. But now, she felt a horrible wrenching in her heart.

"I don't understand, Daddy!" Cera protested.

"You need friends who know how to behave!" Topps said sternly. "Especially in times like this."

"But Littlefoot, Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike _are_ my friends!" She replied. "They'll always be my friends!"

"Cera," Topps began, trying to control his growing frustration, "I'm your father. I want what's best for you!"

The young three-horn decided she couldn't take it anymore. "NO YOU DON'T!" Cera shouted angrily, a few stray tears falling down. "YOU JUST DON'T WANT ME TO HAVE ANY FUN!"

Before her shocked father could even reply, Cera darted away and vanished into a sea of tall reeds.

"Cera, please!" Her father pleaded. "I'm just trying to... oh, as a parent I... oh!"

Topps walked away, feeling a mixture of anger, sadness, and even a hint of regret as he found himself unable to find the right words.

* * *

Cera sobbed as she raced through the Valley, the sun already setting beyond the mountains at the horizon and the moon rising. How could her father do this to her? How could he blame her friends like that? Why was he behaving this way? What was going on?

At that moment, she didn't care. She just wanted to get as far away from him as she could.

Suddenly she screeched to a halt when she saw the familiar outline of the Shell-Former next to the lake. She noticed that the lights were on as they shined through the glass windows.

Slowly, she walked over to door and banged on it slightly with her horn.

After a few seconds, she heard the sound of footsteps coming to the door before it shifted open, revealing Raph.

The red clad turtle stood at the doorway, a sai in hand and looking rather tired as were seen by the slight bangs under his eyes. His face was contorted into one of slight aggressiveness, but when he saw her tearful face, it immediately shifted to one of concern.

"Cera?" He asked as he put his sai away. "What you doing he-"

Raph was cut off when the little triceratops rushed over and jumped into his arms. When he heard her soft sobs, Raph slowly wrapped his arms around Cera in a tight embrace, gently stroking her back in an attempt to comfort her.

* * *

Meanwhile far away from the Great Valley, just a few miles past the Thundering Falls, Kraang Subprime watched with glee as several Kraang droids placed more rocks on a large stone wall blocking the river water from flowing to the Thundering Falls.

"Perfect!" Subprime said. "That little meteor shower was the perfect distraction for us to build a little wall to cut off their water source. They won't suspect a thing." He then turned to one of the Kraang droids. "You there!" He yelled. "Progress report."

"Progress is going what is known as well, Kraang Subprime." The Kraang droid reported. "The completion of the wall is at 99.9-"

"Speak english for once!" Subprime snapped impatiently. "Is it almost done or not?"

"Affirmative. The wall is getting close to completion, Kraang Subprime."

"Good." Subprime stated, before pushing the Kraang droid away. "Now get back to work!"

He then turned towards the direction of the now dried-up river. "Soon this primitive world will be ours, and those pesky turtles will finally be destroyed!" Subprime cackled.

**Phew, finally done with this chapter! So sorry this took so long to upload and I hope you enjoyed it. It looks like the Turtles and their dino friends are gonna get into some real hot water now so stay tuned!**


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